


on top of the world

by springsoldier (ladydaredevil)



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Fluff, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-17
Updated: 2016-12-17
Packaged: 2018-09-09 03:58:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,244
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8874919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladydaredevil/pseuds/springsoldier
Summary: In which Victor doesn’t believe in secret identities, Yuuri’s not quite sure how any of this happened and together, they fight crime! (Also the supervillain community as a whole is pretty harmless.)





	

**Author's Note:**

> Now has a Chinese translation   
> [here!](http://lynnschnee.lofter.com/post/1ea4430e_102da8bf)

Yuuri first sees Victor on television when he’s nine. He never forgets the sight of him holding up a falling plane, of his long silver hair and fierce blue eyes. He's so beautiful it’s almost painful to watch.

He looks like a god.

Maybe he _is_ one.

In the beginning people are scared, understandably, that such an incredibly powerful being has taken up residence in their city. Not Yuuri, though. Yuuri spends every walk home from school with his eyes fixed on the sky, hoping to catch a streak of silver.

Years pass and Victor is still there, still protecting people every day.  

Some people say he must be an alien. When asked, Victor laughs and flies away. No one knows where he’s from, or why, or _how_ , or anything about him, really. Well, other than his name, that bullets bounce off him, and that when a building collapsed on him, once, he was only a little dishevelled when he emerged from the rubble.

Yuuri watches all the footage with rapt attention. He’s not very good at making friend but there’s this girl, Yuuko, who knows _almost_ about as much about Victor as he does. She’s just as enthusiastic as he is about the costume changes, and just as upset when Victor cuts his hair.

Growing up Yuuri almost wishes that something bad would happen to him – nothing big, maybe just a little mugging – so Victor would come and save him, too.

 

Yuuri’s sixteen when his powers manifest. It’s both a complete surprise and something he feels like he’s been waiting for all his life.  

He and Yuuko are on their way back from the skating rink when they get mugged. Through the terror Yuuri thinks that they frankly could’ve picked better targets than two broke students. Yuuri gets shoved to the ground when he offers the content of his bag – which is really only his skates and a few candy wrappers – and then _it_ happens.

Ice spreads under his hands where he’s been holding himself up, creeps up the muggers’ legs and holds them in place, to everyone’s astonishment. Yuuri doesn’t stop to think, he just grabs Yuuko’s hand and runs. 

Yuuri’s never been the type to get into scrapes, at school. All his fighting experience has been in strictly controlled environments, in Minako-sensei’s self-defence classes. His parents had been so startled when he’d asked to join those in a momentary fit of self-confidence, after witnessing one of Victor’s more heroic rescues. 

_Him_ , their meek Yuuri who’d never hurt anyone in his life.

And yet when he and Yuuko are home safe, he finds himself wishing that he hadn’t run, that he’d stood his ground instead. The thought is a little frightening.

Yuuko stares at him, hands clasped over her mouth, and then she says:

“ _Yuuri_! You’re going to be a hero, too! Like Victor!”

He laughs it off, and he must be in shock, a little, because he can’t take his eyes off of his own hands, just in case they do something without his consent again.

                                                                                                                              

Learning to control the ice is difficult. The increased training with Minako-sensei is _brutal_ , but necessary, because the truth is that Yuuri is nothing like Victor. He can use the ice to shield himself, yes, but he bruises and bleeds like any ordinary person.

There are others, of course, besides Victor. Some good, and some bad, and some who just do whatever they feel like doing at the moment. They leave him alone, for the most part.

Yuuri works in the shadows. He avoids direct confrontations when he can – his isn’t really an offensive power, and though he can hold his own in a hand to hand fight they’re messy and he’d much rather avoid them altogether.

No, he doesn’t really _fight_ crime. He hinders it: He blocks exits, makes paths slippery, blows tires. He avoids the spotlight.  He can’t imagine it, being on the news all the time like some of his fellow vigilantes – is that what he is? It’s still hard to believe, sometimes.

 

He meets Phichit in college. They’re roommates and it takes Phichit half a month to see right through Yuuri’s – admittedly pretty pathetic – excuses as to why he’s out most nights. It wasn’t something he’d ever had to consider back home – the inn is big enough that nobody ever noticed him sneaking out.

Yuuri’s panic doesn’t last very long though, because Phichit, it turns out, is unnaturally good with computers, and figure skating isn’t their only common hobby.

They don’t work together, exactly – Phichit enjoys the spotlight, unlike Yuuri, and he’s built up quite the fanbase – but they share information and resources, and Phichit helps him avoid detection by inconvenient security cameras. It’s nice, having a friend who understands what it’s like, being _different_.

 Phichit has a rather more lighthearted approach to the whole vigilantism thing though, doesn’t seem to feel the same crushing pressure Yuuri does. They spend their nights in sitting together on one of their shitty dorm beds, talking about costume designs and watching blurry security camera footage of the others, and wondering what the future holds.

 

When Yuuri is twenty-three and stopping an armed robbery, he gets shot. It should have been routine, the kind of things he spent _years_ preparing for, but then someone gets the drop on him and there’s a gun in his face and he – _ha_ – freezes.

He manages to stumble into an alley before he passes out, and Phichit finds him almost immediately, so the damage is minimal. He still spends two weeks in the hospital, and even after that physical therapy is excruciating. His parents are worried sick, and insist that he move back home while he’s recovering.

The robbers get away, and he learns only later that Victor – of course – was the one to catch them. Yuuri has never felt like more of a failure.

The worst thing, though, is that all the precise control he’s spent so much time honing is just – gone. He can still _use_ his powers, yes, but he keeps leaving blocks of ice everywhere, which is not great when stealth has always been his main asset.

Slippery surfaces, jamming weapons, bumps in the road – that was what he did. Not very spectacular, maybe, but it did the job.

He gets his last college credits online as he recovers, and finds himself with a degree and no real direction in life. There’s always work for him in the family business, he supposes. Vigilantism doesn’t pay the bills – unless you’re one of _those_ people, who get endorsements and sponsors – and so Yuuri figures that it may be time to hang up his domino mask, so to speak.

Then, one day, one of Yuuko’s daughters almost gets run over by a truck. _Almost_ , because Yuuri, in a fit of what is probably momentary insanity, throws himself in front of it, hands forward, as if he were Victor, as if he could stop a ton of hurtling metal with his bare hands.

Apparently, he can.

Well, not him, really, but a _wall_ of ice shoots up between them and the vehicle. It’s much bigger than anything he’s ever created before and he can only blink at it in astonishment for several moments.

The driver is shaken, but mostly fine despite the impact, and Yuuri finds himself hugged within an inch of his life by the whole Nishigori family.  It’s not a crowded street, but there are enough people that someone filmed the whole scene. With Yuuri’s luck, the video goes viral, despite Phichit’s best attempts at taking it down. Thankfully, the video far too blurry for him to be easily identified, so he doesn’t worry too much about suddenly being swarmed by journalists.

 

Yuuri means to retire after that, he does! Except old habits die hard, and there’s a small rise in superpowered crimes in the city at the moment, so he’s really only doing his duty as a citizen by doing his part to stop it. The next time he’s fighting someone in a dark alley – someone who happens to have minor fire-related powers that are still making things _very_ complicated for Yuuri – he learns that someone _did_ , in fact, identify him:

He’s taken a few blows to the head and it takes him a few moments to realise that his opponent has stopped fighting back and is backing away, eyes wide.

There’s a blur of movement, and then the man is down, Victor standing over him with one foot pressed to the prone figure.

“Hello, Yuuri.” He says, beaming. “I’m going to make _you_ this city’s greatest hero.”

Yuuri thinks it’s pretty understandable, given the circumstances, that his reaction is to pass out.

 

In the following weeks Yuuri learns several things, the first of which being that Victor is even more obnoxiously good-looking in person than he is on television. He prefers flying to walking, and is likely to appear in the most unexpected places at any given moment. He eats enough for three, and he has a very cute dog.

Also, for all that he’s patient and generally cheerful, he is also somewhat – lacking, in the tact department.

Perhaps most importantly, he seems to finds everything about Yuuri fascinating. Yuuri isn’t entirely certain this whole thing isn’t an extended dream. Maybe he fell into a coma after the shooting. It would make more sense.

“I thought you were just starting out, at first, but you’re not, are you?” Victor says, halfway through a bowl of katsudon. “It took me a while to realise you were the same person, because your style changed so much. Didn’t used to be this flashy.”

Yuuri flushes – it’s all he seems to do, these days, but what else is he supposed to do when Victor is _right there?_ When Victor is aware of his existence, and has been for a while?

“How did you know who I was, anyway?”

“I read your mind.”

“You _what?!_ ”

Yuuri thinks for a moment that he might die of embarrassment right there, because he’s had _thoughts_ about Victor, _oh god_.

But then Victor laughs.

“I’m joking. I have many talents, but not that one.”

Yuuri’s parents take surprisingly easily to the fact that the resident superhero is now a frequent guest – since, to be honest, Victor pretty much moved in – as though it’s not in the least surprising that Yuuri and Victor suddenly struck up a friendship. Mari is a little more discerning, but then Mari also _knows_ about Yuuri. He’s not certain she approves, but she doesn’t say anything, just watches Victor with an unimpressed expression he’s probably not very used to.

Victor doesn’t really do stealth – partly because he can’t, everything about him being so highly recognisable. Even when he tries to disguise it, the sheer strength of his presence still attracts looks wherever he goes. This of course doesn’t faze him in the least, but it does make things complicated for Yuuri, who would really rather not have to explain what he’s doing with Victor to the press that follows him around pretty much everywhere.

He tells Phichit, of course. He tells Yuuko, who is absolutely _thrilled_ , and Minako, who admits that she has reached the limits of her abilities as his teacher and wishes him the best of luck with Victor.

Yuuri is a little astonished to see that they all seem to think that Victor’s idea makes perfect sense, that he, _Katsuki Yuuri_ , can become the city’s greatest hero. Whatever that means.

He’s not certain he _wants_ to be that man. The only thing he is sure of is that since, for some unfathomable reason, Victor’s decided he’s worth something, he won’t disappoint him.

 

“We need to do something about your image,” Victor says.

“W-what’s wrong with it?”

“Well, you have to _look_ impressive if you want to get anywhere in this life.”

Yuuri reluctantly agrees, and winds up with one of Victor’s less colourful former costumes. He has to admit that it looks good. It’s dark enough that he doesn’t feel too obnoxious and the crystals fit nicely, thematically speaking. He hardly recognises himself, without his glasses, hair slicked back, domino mask on.

Well, that _is_ part of the point.

He can’t help flushing at the way Victor perks up when he steps outside and he sees him for the first time.

“Wow, Yuuri! I knew it’d suit you! But where’s the cape?”

“I’m not wearing a cape!”

“But capes are the best part!”

“I’m going to trip over it and break my neck.”

“You give yourself so little credit.”

“It’s just going to hinder my movements!”

“Oh, fine. But you’re no fun.”

Yuuri is proud of himself for resisting Victor’s pouting, but he still changes the topic before Victor can get him to change his mind. A cape would be a _terrible_ idea.

 “What about a name?”

“You have one.”

“Well, yes, but…”

“Okay, how about Eros?”

“What?! What does that have to do with anything?!”

“It has a nice ring to it.”

“ _No_.”

“Iceman?”

“I think that’s taken.”

“Well, I don’t see why you can’t just be Yuuri.”

“I don’t want people to know who I am!”

“How many Yuuris do you think there are in this city alone?”

“… Fine.”

 

Things are going pretty smoothly, if a little embarrassingly for Yuuri – sparring sessions with Victor are _always_ humiliating, it seems like nothing can touch him, like he’s just humouring Yuuri – when the Ice Tiger shows up in town.

The Ice Tiger is a teenager, and would be adorable if he didn’t hate Yuuri so much, and for frankly absurd reasons at that.

To say that Yuuri is startled at being attacked in broad daylight while he’s standing – feeling more than a little awkward in his costume, growing increasingly nervous because of the curious looks he attracts from passersby – outside the café Victor’s gone to get them drinks at is a bit of an understatement.

He almost gets skewered by an ice spike that is most definitely _not his_ , jumping back with a surprised shout. That’s when he sees the small figure, lower half of his face covered in a mask. He looks like a punk. He also looks about twelve. And he just tried to kill Yuuri. Yuuri is understandably dumfounded. 

“We can’t be _two_ people with ice powers,” The newcomer says. “That’s lame. I’m going to have to _eliminate_ you.”

That’s when Victor clears his throat from behind Yuuri, and hands him their lattes.

“This is my city, kiddo. I don’t know where you’re from, but you can’t just come here and murder people --”

“Don’t tell me what to do! I’ll take it from you soon anyway!”

“ _Hah_ you’re welcome to try– but anyway, you two can sort this out on your own, it’ll be a good learning experience!”

“ _Victor!_ ”

“Don’t drop the coffee!”

Victor, mostly amused by the whole situation, refuses to intervene further, as Yuuri tries to talk the boy down and quickly has to give up on any kind of rational approach, opting to snare him into a massive ice cube instead, taking a second to conjure up a stand for the drinks. The Ice Tiger frees himself easily enough, which Yuuri expected, but Yuuri has enough stamina – and a healthy dose of fear – to just keep trapping him until he exhausts himself.

Yuuri likes to think that if things went badly for him Victor would actually do something, but with him it’s hard to tell, sometimes. Victor doesn’t really – _do_ normal human interaction, and if Yuuri has never believed the alien origin theories before, now he’s starting to wonder, a little. He’d never ask, of course, but he thinks about it.

Yuuri’s coffee is cold by the time the whole ordeal is done and the snarling boy has retreated, vowing to have his revenge. Victor buys him another one.

 

“So how much fine control do you have, anyway?” Victor asks him, sprawled across Yuuri’s bed like he has every right to be there. Yuuri finds it a little distracting, to say the least.

“It used to be good, but now—not so much”

“Can you make, say, statues?”

“I’ve never _tried_. I didn’t think it would be very useful.”

“Useful? _Yuuri_ , where’s your sense of fun? It’ll be good practice, anyway.”

Yuuri painstakingly crafts a statue of Makkachin, to Victor’s utter delight.

He makes one of Victor, later. It’s embarrassingly accurate, a testament to the hours he spent memorizing every detail of his face. He doesn’t show him.

He does make him a bouquet of roses, though, because he’s not entirely above showing off.

_“Amazing_ , _”_ Victor says, and he looks at Yuuri with such fondness that Yuuri can’t stand it.

 

“Why haven’t you done anything about the so-called ‘Ice Tiger’ terrorising the city?” Journalists ask Victor.

“I did talk to him. He doesn’t seem to be a threat. Last time I saw him he was getting a kitten down from a tree.”

“He keeps attacking your friend and causing property damage.”

 “ _Ah_ , that. Yes. Well, maybe we’ll have another chat.”

Yuuri knows that Victor’s not being entirely flippant – though he is, a little – because Victor _does_ talk people down pretty frequently. Just a few weeks earlier, for example, there was a man with super strength attempting to tear down his ex’s apartment building brick by brick while sobbing uncontrollably. Victor had bought him tea, paid for the damages, and patted him awkwardly on the back until he calmed down. Last Yuuri heard he was doing much better.

Yuuri’s never liked how critical journalists get of Victor. People are a little _too_ used to him being around to defuse any potential disaster. They start wondering why he wasn’t _there_ , why he failed, why he can’t prevent _everything_. They don’t see that Victor seems a little tired, these days. He still smiles, and takes pictures with grateful citizens, but there is a weight to him that didn’t used to be there. Most people wouldn’t notice, Yuuri thinks. But then most people don’t spend as much time looking at Victor as he does.

“Another question – Some think that you taking on someone and showing them the ropes means that you’re thinking of retiring, is that true?”

“Well, I can’t say that’s my plan at the moment, but it would be nice to go on vacation sometimes, you know?”

That draws laughs from the assembled crowd. Victor knows how to play the reporters, how to smile and dazzle and deflect. Yuuri just blurts whatever comes to mind when they address him. Thankfully, they don’t do that very often, not when Victor is around and so much more interesting.

“It’s all about image _,_ Yuuri,” Victor explains later, casually hovering a few feet above the ground. He does that a lot. “It’s not about what you can do, it’s what people _think_ you can do.”

“Easy for you to say. You can do pretty much anything.”

“See? Even you believe it.” Victor smiles, but it’s a little wistful.

“Alright,” Yuuri says, suddenly determined to do whatever necessary to ease the immense burden Victor’s taken on, at least a little. “Teach me how to do it, then.”

Victor says: “Whatever you do, don’t read what people write about you on the internet.”

So of course Yuuri reads it all.

He gets called a lot of things. Useless. A public menace. A waste of Victor’s time.

Some more eyebrow-raising things, too. It seems that a fringe group is convinced he has seduction powers and is keeping Victor enthralled through some—supernatural pheromones, or something like that, for some nefarious purpose.

Yuuri had expected it would make him feel awful. Instead, he only finds himself determined to prove them wrong.

Well, maybe not the seduction part, if he’s honest with himself, though the very idea is a little laughable. Why would Victor be into him, of all people? Yuuri knows that Victor’s fond of him, to some extent. That he means it, when he says he’ll train Yuuri. But anything else would be wishful thinking.

Even though Victor said he loved him when Yuuri brought him a container of his mom’s katsudon the previous week. Who _wouldn’t_ react like that to his mom’s katsudon?

 

“What’s it like, flying?” Yuuri asks him one night, when they’re standing on a rooftop, watching the steady flow of traffic below. It’s been a quiet few days, and Victor’s thinking that it means that something will happen soon.

Victor seems surprised by the question, but his thoughtful expression soon melts into a mischievous smile _._

“What if I showed you?”

“Ah – I –“

He doesn’t quite leave Yuuri the time to answer before scooping him up.

 And, look, Yuuri may have had more fantasies about this exact scenario as a teenager than he would _ever_ admit, of Victor picking him up and whisking him away into the skies, but the real thing is more awkward, and embarrassing, and terrifying, and _wonderful_ than he ever could have imagined.

He can’t help it, he laughs as Victors slows to a more reasonable speed, and then just hovers in place for a while, high above the city. Yuuri’s death grip relaxes a little as he peers down and a soft gasp escapes him.

He thought he’d be more afraid, but Victor would never drop him.

“Wow, this is—thanks, Victor.”

He’s surprised to notice, when he looks back at him, that Victor is staring at him, like – like Yuuri usually must look at Victor, really, with a kind of awe.

“Victor? What is it?”

“Oh? Nothing. You made me remember how it feels, that’s all.”

“Remember what?”

“Flying for the first time.”

Their faces are too close, it’s giving Yuuri _ideas_. He must be blushing again, because Victor frowns a little, says he must be getting cold, and brings them back down.

“You should bring warmer clothes, next time.”

Yuuri’s pretty sure he’s warmed enough by the mere thought of there being a next time, but if it gives him and excuse to tuck his face into Victor’s shoulder in the meantime, well. He’ll take it.

Victor throws him his cape, once they’re back on solid ground, because Yuuri’s still shivering a little. He spends the rest of the night wrapped in it.

 

“If you can defeat me, you can beat anyone,” Victor said the first time he asked Yuuri to try to hit him. While it sounds a little obnoxious, it is nonetheless true.

Victor’s not _entirely_ invulnerable, though. Yuuri does know this, even if Victor won’t share his weaknesses. The main problem, really, is that Victor is _fast_. Yuuri can’t very well try to take him down if he can’t even touch him.

It takes weeks, but he finally figures it out. He knows Victor well enough to anticipate his movements by now – he could have from the start, really, he’s seen enough recordings, but it’s taken him a long time to actually trust his instincts.

But he if he knows one thing for sure, it’s that if he falls, Victor will catch him. Making himself trip over the uneven ground is easy enough, and then Victor’s there as predicted. The harder part is to calculate the exact moment Victor will appear at his side with the moment the icy fist Yuuri’s conjured up will close around him.

It works, surprising the two of them equally, Victor staring down at the trap in astonished amusement.

“You _tricked_ me,” Victor breathes, eyes wide and shining with an unusual light.

“I’m sorry!”

Even without much leverage, with his arms bound up close to his body, it takes him only a few moments to free himself, shattering the icy hold without so much as breaking a sweat.

“No! No, that was good! That was great, Yuuri! It won’t work twice, or with any real opponent, so you really need to find something else, but it was great!”

Victor hugs him with such enthusiasm that it’s almost painful. Victor has always been big on casual touches, for all that he doesn’t seem very used to offering them – he still has a hard time gauging appropriate strength levels. Yuuri just figured it was something he did, like the way he has long conversations with Makkachin as though his dog can understand him, or will eat literally everything in sight when he’s spent a lot of energy.

Except Yuuri’s come to notice that Victor’s not like this with everyone. Granted, he hasn’t seen Victor interact with anyone he’s close to – he doesn’t even _know of_ someone Victor’s close to, which is a little heartbreaking, if he thinks about it – but the constant touching seems to be reserved for Yuuri. He’s not sure whether that’s a blessing or a curse.

 

It hits Yuuri, one day, when they’ve just freed from people from the wreck of a minor train accident, that he’s never really enjoyed saving people before.

It was something he did because he’d worked hard for the skills to do it, because it seemed like a no-brainer when his powers manifested. And of course, it felt right to help, even though he was always terrified of making a wrong move, of causing more problems than he solved. Even though the fear was a constant companion.  Of course it was always a wonder to see the ice form under his fingertips, but it was a burden, too.

He’s never – loved it. Not like he does now, out of breath, leaning against Victor for support a as Victor brushes the debris from his hair, the two of them grinning at each other like idiots because everyone made it more or less unscathed.  

 

Yuuri’s familiar with Victor’s arch-nemesis, of course: the art thief known as the Phantom, one of the only people who manage to hold their own against him. What he _doesn’t_ know is that they’re actually friends. That is, until Victor shows up with an invitation card one day, and tells him they’re spending the night at the museum.

They have the police’s permission, and everything, because _they_ sure can’t stop the Phantom from waltzing in and taking whatever he wants.

Victor’s wandered off to see the other floors – he never gets to see the museum when it’s open, he says, he attracts too much attention -- so Yuuri thinks that he’s returned when he suddenly feels a presence at his back.

Yuuri only screeches a little, when he turns around to see a stranger wearing only a mask and what appears to be underwear.

“Well, hello.” The man says. “This is unexpected.”

Victor must’ve heard him, wherever he was, because he’s back in a flash, a concerned expression melting into a smile when he sees what’s alarmed Yuuri.

“Hi Chris! Long time no see! Please step away from Yuuri.”

“Oh, is that this cutie’s name?”

“It is. Watch out though. _He’ll_ be your opponent tonight.”

“ _What_?” Yuuri and – Chris, apparently – chorus, but then he shrugs and takes the unexpected change of plans in stride. Yuuri supposes that he _has_ known Victor for a long time, and must be used to rolling with the punches. So to speak.

“Well, alright then. Don’t take it too hard when I crush him.”

Intangibility, Yuuri realises, is very hard to fight. He finds himself constantly on the defensive, running and dodging as Chris phases through everything Yuuri throws at him.

But Chris can’t fly, not like Victor can, and slippery floors will catch anyone off-guard. 

Chris goes down with a startled ‘oof’ and Yuuri takes the opportunity to knock him out with a well-placed kick while he’s lost his focus. Victor claps, thrilled.

“Clever! Too bad he’s unconscious though, I was going to ask if he wanted to have a drink before we hand him over to the cops.” 

“Huh?” Yuuri says eloquently, still catching his breath.

“Well, he _is_ an old friend.”

“You just made me fight him!”

“He was going to steal very valuable cultural artefacts, of course you had to fight him.”

Victor throws his – friend? – over his shoulder like he weights nothing, and heads out to deposit him in some unimpressed policewoman’s arms. She looks like she’s gone through this far too many times.

“Hopefully he won’t wake up before he’s back in his containment cell.”

“What happens if he does?”

Victor shrugs. “Then next time you hit him harder.”

 

There’s an earthquake. A relatively mild one, as these things go. It does seem to be a natural disaster, and not the result of someone’s evil plan. Unlike the previous year, when Victor had actually had to take apart some mad scientist’s – earthquake machine, or whatever it was.   

This is good, because they have enough to deal with as it is, Victor flying in and out of buildings to rescue stranded people as Yuuri puts up pillars to hold up the weakened structures.

He’s never had to maintain so much for so long, but letting go before everyone is safe and sound is simply not an option he’s willing to consider. Victor is worried though, even pauses a second in his frantic comings and goings to look into Yuuri’s eyes, as serious as Yuuri’s ever seen him, and ask:

“Do you think you can hold on?”

“ _Yes_. But hurry.”

He can feel blood dripping from his nose because of the strain, but every inch of his focus is in maintaining the pillars so he can’t do anything about it.

He empties his always too-full mind, thinks of nothing but the ice, the ice s _taying_ where it’s supposed to be, so Victor can do his job.

“Yuuri,” Victor says, what feels like an eternity later. “You can let go now.”

Yuuri does, and the nearest building groans and collapses, showering them in debris even as Victor flies them away from the danger zone.

Victor hugs him for a long time, when they hit the ground, eyes closed in relief. Yuuri’s too drained to event get flustered at the proximity, just draws comfort from it instead, presses their foreheads together and tries to catch his breath.

“You did so well. _So_ well. I don’t know how I ever managed without you.”

Yuuri’s too tired to protest at the praise.

 

Victor takes him to the ocean. Technically to see if Yuuri’s powers have any hold over it – they don’t, no matter how hard he tries – but Yuuri’s pretty certain it’s mostly because Victor wanted to run around on the beach with Makkachin. It what they end up doing, anyway, chasing the dog and daring each other to wade deeper into the freezing water and letting the sun dry them afterwards.

Yuuri laughs so hard his stomach hurts, when a wave takes Victor by surprise and he emerges spluttering, hair plastered to his forehead and looking supremely offended that this happened to him. Victor laughs too, after a moment.

He seems so much freer away from the city, so much younger, and Yuuri never wants to forget the sight of him like this, like an ordinary man, even if he is anything but.

They keep a police radio nearby, just in case there’s an emergency, but – somewhat miraculously – it stays silent.

 

It takes Yuuri a few months to realise what Victor means when he says that appearances are the most important thing, in their line of work. They don’t do so much fighting as scaring their opponents back onto the right path, most of the time:  Everyone who’s been around for a while knows that the party is over as soon as Victor shows up. Yuuri’s not sure how he’s supposed to conjure up as commanding a presence, no matter how often Victor says that he just has to believe in himself. Sure, he can maybe seem a little threatening when Victor’s at his back, but on his own?

There’s another bank robbery, which Victor says he’s ready to face it on his own. Yuuri’s not sure if he remembers what happened the last time Yuuri was involved in one of those, but he’s really not sure it’s the best time to test strike out on his own. Except there’s a car chase on the other side of town that really needs Victor’s attention, too. Victor promises that he’ll join him as soon as he can, but Yuuri can feel the uneasiness rising in him despite his reassurances.

He’d almost forgotten what it was like, to do this on his own.

Thankfully, the would-be robbers’ guns are fake, and they’re far more scared of him than he is of them. Yuuri’s surprised by the sheer terror in their eyes when they notice his presence. The whole thing is settled in five minutes, the hostages fleeing as Yuuri encases the two teenagers in ice faster than they can use whatever power it is they have.

Guang-Hong and Leo aren’t bad kids, really, when he gets to talking to them. They’re red-faced in shame and embarrassment, and Yuuri believes them when they say they never meant to hurt anyone. They just have a lot of bills to pay, which Yuuri can relate to. He has nightmares about his student loans, sometimes – for all the good that his college degree did him, in his line of work.

By the time Victor appears, a little out of breath – he must’ve _really_ hurried – and practically glues himself to Yuuri’s side as if to make up for lost time, Yuuri’s talking to the police chief in charge of the case, trying to convince him to go easy on the would-be robbers. Victor’s presence makes negotiations a lot smoother, and Yuuri can’t help but sigh in relief. 

He _really_ doesn’t want to go back to doing this on his own.

 

Their line of work brings its lot of injuries, which Yuuri is used to. Victor not so much. He doesn’t like it when Yuuri gets injured, and keeps hovering about like a concerned butterfly.

“A what? I think you have a concussion again, Yuuri.”

“Yeah, probably.”

Victor’s face falls.

“Just a small one,” Yuuri amends, because that kind of expression just won’t do. Victor should always be smiling. Except maybe when he’s looking really intense, that’s good too.

“Not that I mind, but you do realise you’re saying all that out loud?”

“Oh. Well, it’s true.”

“I think it’s hospital time, Yuuri.”

“Aw, not _again._ ”

It’s not so much that Yuuri was neglecting to take care of his injuries before – no matter what Phichit said about it, Phichit worries too much – but he knows from experience that Victor will drag him to the nearest clinic kicking and screaming as soon as he gets so much as a twisted ankle. Yuuri’s a little sick of getting flown in dramatically as though he were dying every damn time.

“Then stop getting injured,” Victor says, frowning down at him.

 

There’s fire raging in an office building. They’ve beaten the firefighters to the scene, and Yuuri can hear the screams for help, but he’s paralysed by the sight of the blaze bursting through the broken windows.

“I think you should sit this one out,” Victor says, and sets him down. “Fire is bad for you.”

“You’re not fireproof, either!” Yuuri yells after him, but he’s already long gone.

He does admit that he would be pretty useless though, and so he watches from afar as Victor flies in and out almost too fast for the eye to follow.

He’s not worried about him getting caught up in the flames, really, but the thick smoke would be hard to handle for _anyone_.

It seems to be going fine, but Yuuri’s heart is pounding nonetheless. It’s ridiculous, he knows, to be worrying about Victor – he’s _Victor_.

But then he realises – it’s been too long, and Victor hasn’t come back out.

He waits a moment, so terrified he could throw up – maybe he’s just lifting debris, or –

Blind panic takes over, and the next thing he knows he’s on his knees next to an unconscious Victor, surrounded by ice, and ice, and ice, and smoke.

“…Yuuri?”

Victor’s voice is rough and creaky, and he coughs as he tries to sit up. Yuuri has never been so relieved in his life.

“You _stupid, overconfident –“_

Victor takes in their surroundings, blinking slowly.

“You – you _froze_ the whole building?”

Yuuri frowns, and looks around. Apparently he did. Well, that explains why he feels so utterly _exhausted_.

“You weren’t coming out, what else was I supposed to –“

“You _saved_ me.”

“ I guess? I mean –“

He doesn’t get any further, because suddenly Victor’s mouth is on his and Yuuri’s brain short-circuits.  Then Victor goes into a coughing fit again, which ruins the moment a little.

Yuuri realises that he’s so drained can’t stand on his own anymore. Neither can Victor, but between the two of them they manage to drag themselves to the exit, shepherding scared – and shivering – people out as stunned paramedics start to come in.

Then they take a taxi back to Yuuri’s parents’ place, collapse in Yuuri’s bed, and sleep for twelve hours.

 

The problem with the Ice Kitten – _Tiger_ , Victor’s rubbing off on him, and what a ridiculous name _either way_ , Yuuri can’t believe his life sometimes – is that he’s kind of unstable. Not just in temperament: when hit the wrong way, his ice spikes shatter into deadly shards.

Yuuri’s had a lot of practice melting them, since the boy still attacks him pretty regularly. As Victor says, it helps keep Yuuri on his toes. Most of the time a red-haired woman shows up and throws him over her shoulder to drag him away, kicking and screaming, before things escalate too much, giving Yuuri a cheerful apology before teleporting away. It’s good to know that the kid has _some_ kind of adult supervision, at least. 

But Yuuri’s not the boy only target, it seems. Victor and Yuuri are attracted by the sounds of a fight – in broad daylight, _again_ – and find ‘The King’ dramatically swatting away his attacks.

“Well, can’t say I blame him for this one,” Victor says under his breath. Yuuri frowns at him.

They should probably intervene, but ‘The King’, for all that he’s incredibly obnoxious, _is_ rather powerful, and generally has good intentions. Hitting him is like punching a rock, even for Victor, so it might be better to just leave them be so long as they don’t wreck everything around them. 

Except there are curious bystanders getting emboldened by the possibility of a good video, and they’re getting _way_ too close.

“Victor,” he says. “We should –“

Victor’s dropped him in the middle of the fight before he can finish his sentence. Which he would be annoyed by, if he didn’t instantly spot a column of ice getting destroyed.

“Watch out!” The kid shouts, and even his opponent stops to watch in horror as it starts collapsing towards the crowd of onlookers, falling in sharp fragments.

Yuuri extends his hand, focuses, and they only get doused in slightly cold water, screaming and scattering.

“Oh. Hey, Victor!” ‘The King’ says, breaking his stunned silence.

“Maybe you should leave,” Victor says, voice colder than anything Yuuri can conjure up. Even ‘The King’ isn’t oblivious enough to ignore his tone, and he retreats with a sarcastic salute.

Yuuri’s pretty sure they’re done here, but then there’s the sound of a throat being cleared behind him. _Here we go again_ , he thinks, and turns around.

The Ice Tiger looks at him with great suspicion for a moment, but eventually holds a hand forward to grip his in a crushing handshake.

“I guess you don’t totally suck,” he says, solemn, and pauses.

“My name’s Yuri,” he continues eventually. “who’re you?”

_Oh no_ , Yuuri thinks, paling.

Victor bursts into laughter.

 

He and Victor are in bed, curled up together, when the thought occurs to Yuuri:

“You never told me why you came to me, that day.”

Victor looks uncomfortable, withdraws a little from Yuuri’s embrace, tries to put some distance between them. Yuuri frowns, suddenly regretting having brought the subject up at all.

What does it matter, why Victor did it? It only matters that he did.

But Victor just sighs, clasps one of Yuuri’s hands between his own.

“I wanted to go. See the world and just – have a life, maybe, away from all of this. For that, I needed a replacement.”

Yuuri feels cold, suddenly.

“To – but – the city!”

“It would’ve been fine. You know how many heroes there are nowadays.”

Yuuri does. The fact that Victor’s taken a step back while he’s keeping an eye on Yuuri has brought a lot of newcomers trying to make their mark, now that the city could be _theirs_. Which Yuuri realises might’ve been Victor’s plan all along.

It’s smart, and very Victor. Yuuri only feels a little used. Besides, he has more pressing concerns at the moment:

“Well—yes, but they’re not _you_.”

“Right, that’s why I needed to find someone with the potential to have just as strong of an image, so people would still feel safe. And so, when I saw that video, I thought of you.”

“Me?”

“You looked like someone who could protect everyone. You can. You _do_.”

Yuuri shakes his head in disbelief, the shock turning him into a babbling mess.

“Thanks to you. I don’t want you to leave – I mean – you should be able to rest, you deserve it, you do _so much –_ but – I just – don’t _leave_ me.”

It’s Victor’s turn to look stunned.

“Why would I do that?”

“You just said –“

Victor kisses him to shut him up, rolls them so he can hold himself above Yuuri.

“I said that’s what I _wanted_. I changed my mind. Why would I want to be somewhere you’re not, now?”

“I – because of me?”

“I _did_ get what I was looking for, Yuuri. I found a life here, with you.”

Yuuri finds himself tearing up because Victor sounds so _sincere_ and _grateful_ and Yuuri loves him so much that he doesn’t know what to do with himself. He settles for kissing him, pressing as close as he can. It eases the ache in his chest a little.

The thought still nags at him though, and eventually he breaks away to say:

“I can’t believe you picked me because you saw _one_ video.”

“ _Yuuuri,_ you think too much,” Victor whines, throwing his arms around him and wrapping him in a tight embrace. “I’m _very_ glad I did. But no, it wasn’t just the video. I followed you around for a while to see what you did, asked around a little. That’s how I knew who you were.”

“You _what._ ”

Victor, to his credit, looks a little sheepish.

“But that’s in the past, right? Can we go back to the kissing now?”

 

Phichit thinks it’s absolutely fantastic that he and Victor “finally got their act together, it was obvious how into you he was, I t _old_ you ages ago.” Which is ludicrous to Yuuri, because how was he supposed to _know_? Victor is so out of his league and he still doesn’t understand how any of this happened, happy as he is that it did.

_“Yuuri_ , you’re a superhero too, remember? And a really popular one, too! Remember that selfie we posted in costume? It got a _lot_ of likes. _A lot_.” 

Yuuri’s really really glad to have a friend like him, but he’s also going to stop listening when he starts talking about likes and shares. Social media makes Yuuri nervous, so he pets one of his friend’s hamsters instead.

But then Phichit says something that gets his attention again:

“Did you see the recent polls? After Victor, people think you’re the strongest.”

“ _Me_?”

“Well, after that thing with the fire went viral, I don’t see how anyone could think otherwise.”

“Ahh but that was – I didn’t even do that on purpose.”

“No, but you _could_. Anyway, I was voted second most charismatic. Pretty cool, right?”

“What, someone’s _more_ likeable than you? I don’t believe it.”

Phichit laughs.

“Stop flattering me, you _know_ your boyfriend owns the public’s hearts.”

The word still makes Yuuri flush, a little.

“Well – yeah.”

He’s pretty sure Phichit’s laughter is directed at him now.

 

Yuuri takes Victor to the skating rink, one day. They don’t get to do a lot of typical ‘date’ stuff, given that they pretty much already lived together before they were a couple, but he loves that he gets to show Victor the Ice Castle, the place that meant so much to him as a kid. Victor takes to the ice instantly, even if he pretends to stumble so Yuuri will hold his hand. He’d apparently never skated before, which Yuuri might find sad if Victor couldn’t _fly_. Victor also very enthusiastically encourages Yuuri to demonstrate the jumps he remembers from his figure skating days.

Yuuri’s incredibly rusty, and his performance is nothing spectacular, but he’s surprised by how much he enjoys it, and Victor’s appreciative whistles. He catches himself thinking that maybe he could’ve done this competitively.

Well, maybe in another life.

Yuuko makes a brave attempt at keeping her daughters – and husband – from gawking too much but Yuuri knows that she’s also rather star-struck by Victor’s sudden appearance in her everyday life. He knows the feeling.  

Yuuri grows ice flowers for the triplets and Victor, not to be outdone, lifts the resurfacer with one hand to hear them laugh and shout in astonishment.

 

When they get to the scene of a hostage situation and the whole place is already frozen over, Yuuri and Victor are understandably confused. Victor looks down at him, as if searching for an explanation, and then they hear the familiar shouting.

“ _Yurio?”_ They chorus.

As if summoned by the offensive nickname, the teenager appears, trailed by a few baffled and somewhat terrified former hostages, who don’t seem to be sure whether they’re safe or not.

“DON’T CALL ME THAT.”

“You’re a hero now!” Victor says, looking absolutely thrilled.

“What? _No._ I was just passing by and they were annoying, that’s all.”

Victor coos, and dodges a kick aimed at his head.

“I’m so proud!”

“Shut _up_ old man. I’ll take this city from you one day!”

Victor doesn’t answer, but Yuuri knows from his smile that he’s betting on exactly that happening.

Well, Yuuri supposes that he and Victor will have to retire at _some_ point.

 

Yuuri gets thrown through the front of a jewelry store, and lands smack in the middle of the engagement rings display.

Victor appears at his side instantly, eyes wide with worry. Yuuri doesn’t like it when Victor’s upset, so he blinks up at him, mind a little hazy, and blurts out the first thing that comes to mind that might lift his spirits:

“Hey Victor. I think we should get married?”

As soon as the words are out of his mouth he knows they’re ridiculous: they’ve only just started dating, they’ve barely known each other for a year and there’ll be no avoiding media attention or keeping his identity secret if he _marries Victor._

It’s insane. Yuuri _really really_ wants to do it.

Still, he’s about to take it back, laugh it off, when Victor makes a _sound_.

He looks absolutely gobsmacked, but also thrilled beyond words. He prods Yuuri a little, takes a moment to make sure that he’s just a little dizzy and not actually injured again, and then makes his very explicit consent known while the people they were fighting make a quick getaway.

Yuuri frankly couldn’t care less.

They get them later, anyway.

 

They hold the ceremony in Yuuri’s parents’ backyard a few weeks later – they’ve taken the whirlwind romance and news that Yuuri is more-or-less-secretly a vigilante in stride, which makes him think that maybe they knew all along and were just humouring him. It’s a small event, with Yuuri’s closest friends and family – and what seems like half the superpowered population, villains included.

Chris even broke out of jail for the occasion, which Victor seems to find very touching.

Yurio shows up on the back of somebody’s motorcycle, and Yuuri _really_ wants to ask, but he’d also rather avoid accidentally setting him off. The boy seems to bond with Yuuko, oddly enough.

Phichit cries almost as much as Yuuri’s mom, and Chris makes a surprisingly heartfelt toast. Minako outdrinks everybody.

Those are the only things that Yuuri really remembers, other than Victor. Victor’s glittering eyes and Victor’s slightly wobbly voice as he says his vows and Victor laughing when Yuuri breaks out his old dance skills to dip him and Victor covering him in kisses with such reverence that he thinks he’s going to cry again.

They don’t get much of a honeymoon, because the world doesn’t stop turning – even though it feels that way to Yuuri, a little—but the others work out some kind of patrol schedule so they can have a break, which is awfully nice of them. He’s pretty sure it was Yurio’s idea, though he would never admit it.

But for the most part they’re home, and they’re together, and that’s all that really matter.

 

Victor’s ring is always on display – Yuuri’s is usually underneath his glove, or around his neck, as he _is_ still, if somewhat futilely, trying to maintain some kind of privacy – so of course it brings questions from the reporters.

“What’s the relationship between the two of you?”

Victor smiles, one of those soft smiles that’s usually just for Yuuri, and takes his hand to bring it to his lips.

“He’s my hero.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! 
> 
> With most ships you have to worry about being being unrealistically sappy. With these two I'm not sure if it's sappy enough, which is really saying something. 
> 
> If anyone wants to scream about this show with me on Tumblr, I'm ladydaredevil over there too!


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